Matt Stevens

Actually a friend of mine did just that and never heard back. I get the feeling he is in over his head with work or his personal life is a mess. But he still does open the Spectra facility each morning (got that straight from Doug at Spectra) so there really is no excuse here. Hoping for movement on all of this today.

Just to clarify... Steven Willard no longer fixes cameras for Spectra or with Spectra. I realized what I wrote above might sound differently. And don't think i want to drag Mr. Willard into the street and beat him. I just want my camera fixed or at the very least, have it back. And since I know (as of two minutes ago) he is very much alive and still doing business, then I know there is absolutely no reason for this to continue as is.

Excuse me but he has refused ALL communication for a full month as of today. Any and all communication. First he was busy. Then he was sick. Then his wife was sick. Now he's just missing. All along I was respectful and sympathetic. And the plot thickens I have now heard from two others who had to scream and holler to get their cameras back in prior years. BOTH stated that Mr. Willard used "My wife is gravely ill" as an excuse. Gentlemen, I am all for being patient and I have been! But don't keep making promises, then disappear off the face of the earth. That is my personal property. Not his. If he can't find the time to service it then pack it up and return it. If he's busy, then get a family member to do it. And are you folks aware that Spectra no longer has anything to do with Willard Engineering? They used to work together. One of the gentlemen I have talked to who went through a difficult time getting his camera back was forced to get tough with Spectra to get it back. There's a reason why they are no longer associated with each other. I wish I had known this before I sent the camera to Willard. If someone has your property and refuses to give it back, that's theft. And if this continues I will contact the North Hollywood Police and file mail fraud charges against Mr. Willard. The loss of my camera is now cost me money. I don't use it for simple pleasure only and now a wedding I was supposed to shoot later this month is in jeopardy because I don't have my camera. Try renting a Super8 camera is the backwoods of NC. There is no way I can make it affordable. I'll lose money. Should this be a case of drastic illness hitting Mr. Willard or his wife or both then my heart goes out to him. But that doesn't change the fact that I am not rich and cannot afford the loss of this camera. it will be devastating to me.

This is sad. of course since Willard Engineering has effectively stolen my camera, I may not be able to shoot anymore Super8. I have a fridge FULL of it and want to shoot, but... The loss of Ektachrome has been critical. These prices will only exacerbate the situation.

I may have to contact a friend in L.A. and ask if he can stop by the listed address to see if anyone is there. this is really at a point where I fear my camera is gone.

I write this with a very heavy heart. Back in January I sent my beloved Canon 1014 XL-S to Steven Willard of Willard Engineering for a clean/lube/service with an agreed upon price of $200. The camera was shipped insured and delivered on January 30th. Up to that time Steve was lightning fast with all his communications via email and text. But once my camera was in his hands all communication stopped. He would not answer me to verify he had the camera. Not until I left a forceful voice-mail in mid February did he finally return my call and explain the camera was in his hands, but that he had been ill. He promised all was well and he would get to my camera in a week. Okay, I can accept that. Two weeks pass and nothing. I start emailing. I hear nothing. I text and hear nothing. I call and eventually leave a vm explaining I fear he has stolen my camera. The next day he calls and says his wife is ill. Okay, but I have NOTHING via text or email stating he has my camera. He agrees to send me an email stating he has the camera and also explains he will do the job next week. I receive the email on March 12. Since then, silence. Nothing. No response to any methods of communication. This camera is very important to me and it cost me big bucks. I cannot just eat the cost. Has anyone had an experience with Steven Willard? I have only heard good things about the man, which is why I sent the camera to him. But it appears I may have made a terrible mistake. Should I not have this situation settled by the end of the week I will probably have to look into filing charges of mail fraud. That's a felony. I'll also have to go to the BBB. I'd rather not do that to the man if it can be avoided, but fact is HE HAS MY CAMERA and will not fix or simply return it to me.

I write this with a very heavy heart. Back in January I sent my beloved Canon 1014 XL-S to Steven Willard of Willard Engineering for a clean/lube/service with an agreed upon price of $200. The camera was shipped insured and delivered on January 30th. Up to that time Steve was lightning fast with all his communications via email and text. But once my camera was in his hands all communication stopped. He would not answer me to verify he had the camera. Not until I left a forceful voice-mail in mid February did he finally return my call and explain the camera was in his hands, but that he had been ill. He promised all was well and he would get to my camera in a week. Okay, I can accept that. Two weeks pass and nothing. I start emailing. I hear nothing. I text and hear nothing. I call and eventually leave a vm explaining I fear he has stolen my camera. The next day he calls and says his wife is ill. Okay, but I have NOTHING via text or email stating he has my camera. He agrees to send me an email stating he has the camera and also explains he will do the job next week. I receive the email on March 12. Since then, silence. Nothing. No response to any methods of communication. This camera is very important to me and it cost me big bucks. I cannot just eat the cost. Has anyone had an experience with Steve Willard? I have only heard good things about the man, which is why I sent the camera to him. But it appears I may have made a terrible mistake. Should I not have this situation settled by the end of the week I will probably have to look into filing charges of mail fraud. That's a felony. I'll also have to go to the BBB. I'd rather not do that to the man if it can be avoided, but fact is HE HAS MY CAMERA and will not fix or simply return it to me.

Amazing stability. I would love to see the 2K original and have a look at the grain structure. I'm most impressed and more than ever I WANT ONE!

Right now my first feature as a director is in serious jeopardy because our main investor has suddenly decided he wants a "big name star" to lead the film. His idea of a big name star is flat out delusional and all of us who have worked for one year with no pay are about to kill someone or some thing. Of course, this genius investor believes we need to do this on our own so he will not pay for a casting director. "Just call James Franco! He'll love the script!" Yeah, sure. No problem you moronic tool. Never mind we'll never get past his agent's assistant or secretary. The thing is, we already have the commitment of a name Asian star. I knew someone who knew her and was able to slip the script on over. She loved it, we talked, she came on board and everything we need to shoot in her country is lined up. It all came together like clockwork. But to get a green light we need to cast a name for the male lead. An American actor who is known to the general public. If we want the 400 grand we need, then we have to meet that demand. The issue is if we want access we need a casting director. Simple as that. Believe me, we have been doing the legwork and our co-producer is experienced and a huge help, but he's just thrown up his hands. And I don't blame him. It's likely our entire production will collapse because of an investor being unwilling to spend a few grand that needs to be bleeping spent. We were supposed to start shooting May 1. That probably won't happen. Do I sound pissed? Hope so. I am.

Dario Argento shot some great films 2 perf from that era. DEEP RED is a personal favorite.

Has anyone tried this?

There are 2 perfs and because of the cost savings they are never sitting on rental shelves.

A new Super8 camera can create a special niche and be profitable. It can also be hip and retro if marketed properly. But 16 and 35 are a pipe dream. There are so many cameras being dumped on eBay right now the prices continue to sink like a stone. We will not see any new 16 or 35mm film cameras in the future. There is no need.

Excited Excited Excited!

No doubt that looked like 16mm. 50D is wonderful stock.

They really do need to hire a spokesperson. More than anything, they need to get the camera into the hands of someone like Bloom or any of the other ultra blogging shooters who are damn good at what they do.

We don't know that yet. It hasn't been used and reviewed by pros. I will; be and then we can make some judgments. The idea of this camera excites me. We don't need 4k, we just don't. Is it nice to have? Damn straight. But there is zilcho reason why a 2k camera with no rolling shutter cannot be used to create stunning images. Maybe they hit a home run. Maybe they hit a double. Even if it's just a single it means someone else will score better down the road.

I sent an email to Nofilmschool.com suggesting they cover this camera and low and behold... http://nofilmschool.com/2013/12/logmar-super-8-first-8mm-camera-in-over-30-years/

OK so this is certainly different. Interesting concept.

No doubt my one complaint about the R10 is the fixed hand grips and stupid battery holder. So many people lost the battery holder over the years. Lots of perfectly fine R10's ended up thrown away because the holder was gone and the owners decided not to sell the camera itself thinking it was useless. :(

Wow. You guys sure do get technical. :blink: For me all I can say is that after using at least a dozen Super8 cameras my all time favorite is the R10. It was so stupendous in low light conditions that I would make love to it in thanks if I could. :P I had to sell my first R10 a while back to pay a bill and boy was that a mistake. I ended up buying a mint, serviced Canon 1014 XL-S and while I love it, no doubt it goes soft below 2.8 (especially at 1.4) and because it's not built like a tank (the R10 is) I have to be very very very careful with all of those damned plastic knobs. I'll have mine serviced shortly and will ask about having the internal filter removed and the in camera fades, dissolves disabled.

We need an English version of this article like now!

No question the older 8mm cameras can develop problems that just infuriate you. Out of the blue they will just do **** that screws up the works. Getting them fixed can be easy... or a nightmare. The idea of a BRAND NEW super8 camera is as amazing as amazing gets. If it turns out to be a reliable piece of hardware, then it can only allow 8mm a chance to hang around a bit longer. My only very real fear is the idea of Kodak no longer producing 8mm cartridges. Then we have Pro8 and only Pro8mm and their prices will skyrocket and that will be that for me.

I will be bringing about a dozen rolls of film from the USA to Vietnam next spring for a film shoot. I'll have a bunch of 50D and the rest 200T and 500T. I'll be asking for a hand check and praying they don't go thermonuclear on me. On the way back my wife's cousin works at the Saigon Airport so she will probably be able to help me get a hand check on the luggage.

What does the Digital Bolex have to do with anything? I am all for that camera and crazy curious to see if it successful, but it's not relevant to this discussion.